North Carolina Republicans Push to Seize Power From Top Democrats

The state’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a sweeping bill that would erode the power of the Democratic governor and attorney general and hand the G.O.P. more control over elections.

The Republican-controlled legislature in North Carolina passed a bill on Wednesday that would strip key powers from the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general in addition to giving the G.O.P. more control over elections and judicial appointments.

The changes, included in a 131-page bill that was designed to deliver much-needed disaster relief for areas of the state devastated by Hurricane Helene, come as Republicans are likely to lose their supermajority in the legislature after defeats in this month’s elections. Josh Stein, a Democrat, will be the next governor, succeeding Roy Cooper, another Democrat.

The bill would significantly restructure the state election board, the top authority over voting in North Carolina, wresting appointment power away from the governor’s office and handing it to the state auditor, who will be a Republican next year. The change would be likely to put the board, which currently has three Democrats and two Republicans, under G.O.P. control.

The legislation would also significantly restrict the governor’s ability to fill vacancies on state courts, including the Supreme Court, by limiting the options to candidates offered by the political party of the judge leaving the seat. And it would curtail the ability of the attorney general — currently Mr. Stein, and next year Jeff Jackson, another Democrat — to challenge laws passed by the legislature.

Beyond those proposals, the bill would make major changes to state election procedures. It would significantly shorten the time voters have after Election Day to address problems with their mail and absentee ballots — a process known as curing — and would require local election officials to finish counting provisional ballots within three days of the election.

The State Senate’s passage of the bill on Wednesday sends it to Mr. Cooper, who has 10 days to sign or veto the legislation before it becomes law automatically. North Carolina does not allow its governors to veto parts of a bill, so he would have to reject the entire measure, including the hurricane relief provisions.

Adding to the drama, Mr. Cooper was in Washington on Wednesday, seeking more federal hurricane relief — which under North Carolina law meant that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the controversy-prone Republican who lost the governor’s race to Mr. Stein, was serving as the acting governor. But Mr. Cooper’s office said it did not expect the bill to reach the lieutenant governor on Wednesday.

The Republican supermajority in the legislature means that the party could override a veto by Mr. Cooper if its lawmakers all vote together. But they could face some intraparty headwinds: On Tuesday night, three House Republicans from the western counties hit hardest by the hurricane voted against the bill, only 13 pages of which ultimately included storm relief measures.

One of those Republicans, State Representative Mike Clampitt, said in a brief interview on Wednesday that he had been deeply disappointed and surprised by the bill, particularly because it did not provide sufficient money for disaster aid.

“There was stuff that should be in next year’s budget that was in there,” he said. “That shouldn’t have been in there.”

Asked if he would vote to override a potential veto from Mr. Cooper, Mr. Clampitt said: “I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get to it. We’re not there yet.”

The gallery in the State Senate was packed on Wednesday as the chamber debated the bill. Onlookers hissed and flashed a thumbs-down as State Senator Ralph Hise, a Republican, discussed the bill’s details, and cheered Democratic lawmakers who stood in opposition. Mr. Robinson, agitated at the applause for the Democrats, ordered the gallery to be cleared less than 20 minutes into the debate, saying they were “immature people.”

“You are overturning the will of the people!” one person yelled. “You’re a fascist,” another screamed as the crowd exited the building to chants of “Shame! Shame!”

Mr. Hise, rising in defense of the bill, ignored the criticisms of provisions that would erode the authority of the governor and others, and instead defended the bill as a necessary first step in recovery from the hurricane.

“This is not a quick recovery for western North Carolina; this will be a yearslong process,” he said, adding that he still could not drink the water in his home. He criticized those making “a whole bunch of crazy claims that were not doing anything for the people of western North Carolina.”

Earlier in the debate, Mr. Hise said the reason for shortening the timeline for counting provisional ballots was to achieve a “timelier resolution of election outcomes.” Provisional ballots have tended to favor Democrats in recent elections, including in North Carolina’s State Supreme Court race this year. The Democratic incumbent, Allison Riggs, led the race by about 600 votes after provisional ballots and outstanding absentee ballots were counted; it is now heading to a recount.

The first state senator to rise in opposition to the bill was Julie Mayfield, a Democrat who represents western North Carolina.

“This bill does not meet the spirit of the moment, and I will not be able to vote for it,” she said. “It would have been easy to break out the Helene relief portions from this bill from the rest of a bill that takes purely partisan aim at some of the foundational pillars of our democracy,” she said.

Phil Berger, the top Republican in the State Senate, told reporters after the vote on Wednesday that Republicans’ passage of the jumbo bill was “all within the rules,” adding that they sought to restructure the election board to “have balance.”

Asked if they had chosen to give appointment power to the auditor’s office because a Republican would hold it next year, Mr. Berger said, “No, it’s because we felt that the auditor’s office was a place that would work.”

Republicans have had a stranglehold on the North Carolina legislature since 2011, and they have pursued similar power grabs in recent years. After Mr. Cooper was elected in 2016, the legislature sought to limit the number of state employees the governor could hire, shift some of his responsibilities to the lieutenant governor and require Senate confirmation for cabinet positions.

Republicans in Wisconsin and Michigan borrowed from that playbook in 2018, when they sought to strip powers from incoming Democratic governors. In Wisconsin, parts of the push were successful, but Michigan’s departing Republican governor vetoed the effort there.

During the 2021 redistricting process, the North Carolina legislature drew a congressional map with 11 of the state’s 14 House seats favoring Republicans — a striking advantage in a state that is almost evenly divided politically.

Despite its long history of partisan fights, North Carolina had recently come together in response to Hurricane Helene, which ravaged western areas of the state. Asheville, a fast-growing city tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains, was hit by unrelenting flooding, which left tens of thousands of residents without drinkable water or power for weeks.

Mr. Stein, the incoming governor, criticized the legislature for tethering hurricane relief to the measures targeting Democratic power.

“Many people and communities are hurting and need our help,” Mr. Stein wrote on social media on Tuesday. “But instead of stepping up, the Republicans in the General Assembly are grabbing power and exacting political retribution.”

Mr. Jackson, the next attorney general, said in an interview on Wednesday that the bill “should be focused on Helene response to help people — it really shouldn’t be used to sneak through major policy changes,” including some that would “undermine the independence of the attorney general.”

Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a statement that the board had not been consulted about the legislation. She added that the bill “may make it impossible for the county boards of elections to adequately ensure every eligible ballot cast is counted, especially in high turnout elections.”

This is not the first time Republicans have tried to give their party control of the state election board.

Last year, G.O.P. lawmakers passed a bill to allow the legislature to make appointments to the board. Mr. Cooper challenged the law, arguing that it was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers. A three-judge state panel agreed with him, and the effort was in legal purgatory during the 2024 general election.

By shifting authority over the election board to the state auditor, the legislature appears to be working around the legal concerns about separation of powers, because the auditor is part of the executive branch.

The effort to tighten election laws in North Carolina also follows a yearslong push by Republicans in battleground states to exert more influence over how elections are run.

After the 2020 election and ahead of the 2022 midterms, right-wing activists backed by the election-denial movement organized a coalition of candidates to run for secretary of state, the top role overseeing elections in most battleground states other than North Carolina and Wisconsin. But those candidates were defeated in every competitive state in 2022.

Dave Boliek, the incoming Republican auditor, ran a campaign promising to rein in spending, especially at the state’s division of motor vehicles. He often pledged to “audit” the board of elections, but offered little detail.

In August, he earned the endorsement of Donald J. Trump, who called out Mr. Boliek by name during a speech about the economy, recalling that the candidate for auditor had told him, “I’m only in politics for you, sir.”

“Where is Dave?” Mr. Trump said from the stage, scanning the audience. Spotting Mr. Boliek, he asked, “Do you mean that?”

Mr. Boliek shouted back, “I mean it!”

“If you mean that, I’m for you all the way,” Mr. Trump replied. “He has my endorsement. Thank you, Dave.”

Reid J. Epstein contributed reporting.